Candide

“The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it.” - Voltaire

Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, known simply as Voltaire (1694-1778), has practically become synonymous with the Enlightenment.  Voltaire was a prodigious writer, producing thousands of works about history, poetry, science and politics, and he is today celebrated as France’s greatest writer and satirist.  

His advocacy of freedom of religion and his critiques of religious and governmental authorities made him one of the most famous men of his day, and his influence on America’s Founding Fathers is obvious. The Enlightenment’s challenge to religious and governmental authorities was not without its risks, given that Europe and the American colonies were ruled by powerful monarchs in Britain and France.  Voltaire himself wrote, “It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”  Indeed, when some Enlightenment dared to mock or challenge authority, they were forced to flee their countries to avoid being imprisoned. The list of Enlightenment thinkers who spent time in exile include John Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Guillaume-Thomas Raynal. Perhaps it’s not surprising when Voltaire wrote things like “Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.”

Voltaire’s most famous work was Candide, featuring a young man named Candide who lives a sheltered life in paradise being indoctrinated by his optimist mentor, Pangloss. Candide quits the lifestyle, becoming gradually disillusioned with the world as he sees others’ hardships. Candide is humorous and sarcastic, satirizing events like the Seven Years War and the Lisbon Earthquake in 1755. Candide ridicules religion, theologians, governments, the military, philosophies, and philosophers like Leibniz. Candide is widely acknowledged as one of the most important works in the West.

This edition is specially formatted, including pictures and a Table of Contents.